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Dark Sacred Night: A Ballard and Bosch Novel

Review

DARK SACRED NIGHT attempts to transition LAPD detective Renée Ballard --- introduced in 2017’s THE LATE SHOW --- into the world of Michael Connelly’s long-running and incredibly popular Harry Bosch series, with the promise of more to come. While it feels as if Ballard is moving into Bosch’s orbit just a bit too quickly in spots, this is nonetheless a fast-paced read that is filled to the brim with Connelly’s well-researched procedural nuggets.

The novel begins with Ballard at the site of an apparent murder, a case that she solves almost immediately with Holmesian aplomb. It is an indication of Connelly’s seemingly bottomless well of talent --- still fresh and wet after all these years --- that this opening vignette could have functioned just as well on its own as a short story. After clearing the scene, Ballard is back at headquarters when she spies someone rifling through some closed files. That snoop, of course, is Bosch, who is working a closed case on his own time, separate from his day job at the San Fernando Police Department.

"...a fast-paced read that is filled to the brim with Connelly’s well-researched procedural nuggets.... DARK SACRED NIGHT is a pivotal work in the series that longtime readers should not miss."

Bosch’s case concerns a young lady who was murdered and left on the street several years ago. The victim, a drug addict and prostitute, is the daughter of a woman with addiction problems of her own who Bosch is helping to stay clean. He enlists Ballard in the investigation after quickly becoming impressed with her inductive and deductive reasoning skills and professionalism. Ballard knows Bosch by reputation, and while their personalities don’t entirely mesh, their mutual fish-out-of-water approach to their jobs --- and their respective difficulties --- helps them establish a professional rapport rather quickly.

Regarding his public job, Bosch is re-examining the murder of a low-level San Fernando drug lord who was killed assassination-style in front of his home a few years ago. Bosch may be coated in rough edges, but the motto he brings to his work --- everyone counts, or nobody counts --- is in full observance here. He obtains a somewhat reluctant witness, but things go sideways on several different levels. Once again he finds himself in familiar and unwelcome territory vocationally as the story concludes, even as he creates his own “if this, then that” plan, which is ready for implementation should it be necessary by the beginning of the next book.

DARK SACRED NIGHT has a lot of moving parts to it. There are a number of investigations in addition to the two primary ones that slice into and out of the narrative and create a “real world” atmosphere. It is no surprise that this series has a fanatical following among law enforcement personnel (as does its Amazon Video counterpart) at a level not seen since the Dirty Harry movies of the 1970s and ’80s.

What is inescapable, though, is that time marches on, and Bosch, as noted on a couple of occasions here, is getting older and just a tad more ragged. Pairing him with a younger protagonist, who is similar yet different and may eventually shoulder the brunt of the story, is certainly one way to handle the situation. Connelly, like his creation, hopefully will have another Plan B going forward. That said, DARK SACRED NIGHT is a pivotal work in the series that longtime readers should not miss.

Michael Connelly

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